ANNOUNCEMENTS -----No SN the Week of Labor Day Due to the Labor Day holiday, Staff Notes will not be published on 8 September. Any material that needs to be appear before 15 September should be submitted by the regular deadlines for the 1 September issue. If you have questions, contact Bob Henson, ext. 8605, e-mail bhenson@ncar.ucar.edu. -----MM5 Tutorial The fourth Pennsylvania State University/NCAR Mesoscale Modeling System Tutorial and Workshop will take place from 24 August to 1 September at the Foothills Lab. The tutorial for new users of the MM5 model will run from Wednesday to Friday, 24-26 August. A review class for experienced users will take place on Monday, 29 August, and the workshop begins the afternoon of the 29th and runs through noon on Thursday, 1 September. Over 80 attendees from 33 different institutions are expected. This event is sponsored by MMM's Mesoscale Modeling Group. Instructors are Sue Chen and Jimy Dudhia (MMM), Georg Grell (NOAA/FSL), Yong-Run Guo and Kevin Manning (MMM), and Dave Stauffer (Penn State). MMM's Debbie Whitman (ext. 8914, whitman@ncar.ucar.edu) is providing the administrative support for the event; for a list of attendees, contact Debbie. -----More Details on the Fall Race and Party As recently announced, the annual UCAR up-the-hill races and fall party will happen on Friday, 16 September. The individual foot race begins at the base of the hill at 3:00 p.m. sharp, followed by the individual bike race at 3:30 p.m. and the divisional relay race at 4:00 p.m. Afterward, there will be snacks and beverages on the tree plaza (no organized music and no main course, however). The mesa road will be closed around five minutes before each race and opened briefly between races. Interested staff should sign up with their NCAR division or with UCAR by Friday, 9 September. Individual Races All participants will receive a pair of identical bib numbers through interoffice mail prior to race day (please supply your own safety pins!). Runners should attach bibs on the front and back of their shirts; bike racers should attach bibs on both hips. Please arrive at the starting line ten minutes before race time to ensure a prompt start. For the benefit of other racers, move quickly to the side upon crossing the finish line. Relay Race Typically, something other than just a standard baton is passed between participants. That "something"--generally chosen by the Employee Activities Committee (EAC) race designers--has varied widely from year to year. This time, the burden (or joy!) of creativity falls upon the participants. Each team must transport, in typical relay fashion, something that weighs at least 20 pounds. These objects may be pushed, pulled, dragged, thrown, or whatever. The only restrictions are that the object(s) must in no way be self-powered (no 20-pound dogs on leashes), and participants must actually run with both feet on the ground (no 20-pound scooters). The same object(s) that start the race must also finish it. Objects will be marked and weighed at the start and checked at the finish. The most creative relay solution will receive public recognition and high praise. Also honored will be the team finishing with the highest score, calculated as follows: of all teams, the slowest finishing time and the lowest percentage participation will each be assigned a value of zero, and the fastest finishing time and highest percentage participation assigned a value of one. All other teams' finishing times and percentage participations are assigned a corresponding value between zero and one, and the final score is the sum of these two values. Questions? Contact EAC race/party liaison Mike Hoswell, ext. 1319, hoswell@ncar.ucar.edu. -----What's Cooking in the Cafeteria Monday, 29 August Bear River Barley Soup Oriental Chicken and Vegetables Pita or Oriental Vegetable Pita Ham and Provolone Croissant/Pasta Salad Hungarian Goulash with Wide Egg Noodles and Vegetable Tuesday, 30 August Black Bean Soup Chicken or Vegetarian Triple Decker Sandwich Sloppy Joe and Fries Shrimp Enchiladas with Fiesta Rice, Guacamole, Lettuce and Tomato Wednesday, 31 August Garden Fresh Minestrone Soup Greek Salad Pita Monte Cristo Sandwich Meat Loaf with Scalloped Potatoes and Vegetable Thursday, 1 September Split Pea Soup Pastrami and Swiss on Rye with Cole Slaw Pepperoni Pizza or Pepperoni and Pineapple or Tomato, Onion, Green Pepper and Mushroom Barbecue Chicken with Baked Beans, Corn on the Cob and Potato Salad Friday, 2 September Manhattan Clam Chowder Golden Broil Atlantic Salmon Sandwich with Tomato Cucumber Salad or Fries Mushroom Swiss Cheeseburger and Fries Stuffed Shells with Tossed Green Salad and French Roll